Spring 2015 starts March 4th. Yeehaw!  I'll be blogging on the Spring sessions tab.  Stay tuned......

Coyote kids Fall 2014 Session

Okay.  I admit it.  Blogging didn't end up on the top of my priority list for the Fall session.  Having fun with kids and creating a great program did, however!

It was a great fall.  We had 6 mentors and 20 kids in the village.  There were some great projects like:  bead making, coal burning a community bowl, cordage jump ropes, pottery with clay from the riverbanks, cordage, shelter building, thankfulness gifts to the land, yoga, music making, romping and much much more.

 Here is a conglomeration of our pictures from the season, in hopes that they will provide information, provoke memories, and give you something fun to share with friends and extended family.  As always, I'm thankful for the wonderful families who take part in the Coyote Kids program.  I hope you get outside this winter to look for tracks, build forts and have fun.  See you in the Spring!!

Whittling

Mouse Houses

Shelter building

"Let's explore"

"Okay....."

Gina

Music makin

Closing Circle

Can you find Gerry?

How about Susanna?

Sit spot

Making talking sticks

Making talking sticks

Cordage jump rope for the village

One person cordage jump rope

Joyful day!

Firekeeper

Firekeeper

Cattail mat underneath all those kids!

Tandem friction fire.

Bow drill

Basketmaking with willow

Ash bead making

Cameron tells the big story

Coal burning a community bowl

Coyote Kids is back in session!

It was wonderful to start the season with so many familiar faces and some new friends.  We had a beautiful sunny autumn day filled with warmth and color.  The village quickly started humming along as kids and mentors got involved in a myriad of projects on the land.  Looking forward to a great fall.....

Opening circle...... bringing in fire

Whittling in dappled light

Toad abodes, mouse houses, caterpillar caves.....

Caterpillar house....here he comes!

Coyote Kids Village Starting Soon!

Saturday Offering:
Feb. 15th
nine am-3:00
Sterling College Campus

Wednesday Offering:
March 12th - April 23rd
1:30-4:45

Albany School:
Fridays
Starting Feb. 21st for 8 weeks

To register contact the director, Anna Crytzer, at crytzy@gmail.com

Winter?!?

Well we knew it would come eventually but we weren't quite ready.  The past two weeks were spent running through the woods in spring-like weather.  This week winter came and everybody was trying to adjust.  The mentors got some great hands-on learning in the differences between a fall and a winter session.  Our biggest learning points were:
1.  It is easier to be present when you are wearing warm boots.
2.  Keep your mittens off the ground and in your pocket.
3.  Check in with kids about their temperature.
4.  Stay physically active.
5.  Butt pads have several interesting uses......

This was Ange's last day with us for awhile.  Opening circle included a special thanks for her and a song in recognition of the great gift it was to have her with us for so much of the fall session.  Owen and Sadie's mom also sent in a yummy treat for everyone to enjoy!  You can see that we are all figuring out how to stay warm and also blessed with light shining through the trees.

Well here's the butt pad story.  We ran through all kinds of ideas for butt pads (weaving them, sewing vinyl tablecloths together with newspaper in the middle, cutting up old sleeping mats).  And then....winter came and we needed something RIGHT AWAY!  So we tried out Duncan's idea of stuffing newspaper into ziploc bags.  Well they worked fine for sitting on.  Five minutes after the kids arrived we also discovered that they worked great for sliding down hills, too.  Here are Duncan and Abram using their butt pads to do some "piggy sliding" (so named by Abram) that includes oinking on the way down!  

Haley, Malaika and Jackson set up an awesome nature museum inside of our wigwam.  Thanks to Sterling College for the use of many cool hides and animal bones.  The kids did some investigating, checking out field guides, game playing and journaling.

Cameron and Malaika tended the fire and created some movements to go with one of our favorite songs, "Solid as a rock" by Heidi Wilson.  During the fall Coyote Kids session Cameron has developed a love for roasting things over the fire....acorns, granola bars, baked treats, and even cheese!

Kestrel, our special guest and local high school student, takes us on an orienteering adventure through the woods around our Coyote Kids village.

More opportunities to check out maps!

During our orienteering expedition, mentors had a great time romping through the woods with kids.  Look at Gina go!  Many groups played species name games on the trail.  Wonderful songs were sung by Haley, Malaika and Anna (including our new "skunkestra" - an ode to the many wonderful things about skunks!)

Hmmm....I wonder what Frankie's species name is?

Thanks everyone for another wonderful day at Coyote Kids!  

Special thanks to Haley and Ange for providing the pictures, Kestrel for the orienteering activity, Sterling College for the hides, Jen Skorsted for yummy treats and Duncan and Ange for being present, supportive, knowledgeable and FUN! 

Mentoring

Coyote Kids is about sharing: skills, stories, experiences, joy...

Welcome to the circle.

 Forest Dancing? 

This is a great picture of mentoring.  People of all ages coming together to revel in nature and learn from each other.

Also a powerful mentoring moment.  

Making yucca cordage.

Gerry shares a new skill he learned at a workshop.

  Sit spot is one of the most important routines we do at Coyote Kids.  The kids have the same sit spots each day.  It's a time to be quiet in nature, use your senses to experience the world around you and to cultivate a deep inner relationship with nature.  

Abram ends his day with a really peaceful sit spot moment.

     A Village at Work and Play

Making Connections:  That's what it's all about!

Making music.

Coal burning spoons.

Gina and Charlie make fire. 

Teamwork.

Nature journaling 

Whole village project:  A wigwam!

Peace.

A special thanks to Gina and Ange for taking great pictures and to Gerry for spearheading the wigwam project.  Also, big thanks to the Sterling crew that built the wigwam frame:  Gerry, Jackson, Gina, Max and Steve.  We are very thankful for the donation of the bark made possible by Jackson, Bill and Goodrich Lumber.